Our early morning data collection session was a go! Manon collected the dolphin video data and had a silty 4 m underwater visibility. She entered a bit earlier to avoid the glare from direct sunlight. Kami and Elli played with seagrass. Gizmo and Kami played together. And all mom/calf pairs exchanged pectoral fin contacts this morning! Kami, of course, needed to get a close-up view of Manon and the MVA (feature photo!). She also blew a few big bubbles this morning that Manon caught on camera.
After data collection and a yummy breakfast, we had a morning snorkel at Blue Channel. We stayed in the shallow area to the south of the channel and had a fun time looking for fish big and small and crustaceans. We saw a sand diver, a large peacock flounder, a queen angel fish (see below), several lobsters snuggled below the reef, a trumpetfish, and Kathleen saw two large puffer fishes doing a funky dance that they ended when they realized they were observed (or so it seemed!).
The afternoon was spent reviewing the morning’s footage and reading a few scientific papers.
Tomorrow is our last data for data collection, after which we’ll dismantle the gear, clean it, and pack up.
Cheers
Kathleen & Manon